Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery fell 12 cents to finish at $82.26 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier rising as high as $83.55.

It fell back as stocks sold off Friday afternoon.

Oil traders have been watching stocks for signs about the direction of the economy.

In London, Brent crude rose $1.63 to end the day at $108.62 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Benchmark crude is still well above its lowest point in the past year. It finished at $71.63 a barrel last Aug. 24.

PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn thinks traders may have overreacted after oil fell nearly 6 percent Thursday on a batch of negative economic news.

He said traders will remain guarded until there is more clarity about where the economy may be headed.

Crude got some support Friday from a weaker dollar, which hit a new post-World War II low against the Japanese yen.

Oil and other commodities are priced in dollars, so a weaker dollar makes them cheaper for traders who use other currencies.

Oil lost some ground by the end of the day as the dollar got a little stronger.

In other Nymex trading for September contracts, heating oil rose 2.97 cents to finish at $2.9045 per gallon and gasoline futures added 5.08 cents to end at $2.8412 per gallon. Natural gas rose 4.8 cents to finish at $3.940 per 1,000 cubic feet.